The biopic about former WWE wrestler Chris Benoit has reportedly found its director. Lexi Alexander, the director behind such films as Punisher: War Zone and Green Street Hooligans has signed on to helm the project, titled Crossface, for SRG Films.
"I was pretty certain I'd stay in TV rather than returning to the feature world, because the material just seems so much better in TV, especially in drama, but then Crossface came my way," Alexander said of the project, according to IGN. "A heartbreaking, true story about the dark side of wrestling...I couldn't say no to that."
For the uninitiated, Benoit was once one of the most successful and well known wrestlers in the WWE and the WCW throughout the early-to-mid 2000s. Then, on June 25, 2007, authorities entered the Benoit household and discovered Benoit and his entire family dead. The pro wrestler had strangled his wife and then suffocated his son before killing himself. An autospy later revealed massive trauma to his brain, purportedly stemming from years of trauma in the ring.
Crossface is based on Matthew Randazzo V's book Ring of Hell: The Story of Chris Benoit & the Fall of the Pro Wrestling Industry. The movie's script was penned by Jake Goldberger and Sarah Coulter. Alex A. Ginzburg and Tony Lee will produce, with Ram Getz and Randazzo V acting as executive producers.
In a press release detailing the film back in 2011, Coulture said, “People immediately point to steroids, never thinking about the brain trauma these wrestlers can and do incur in their profession, nor do they consider the rigorous schedule that keeps them working even when they shouldn’t be. The Benoit story is one that needs to be brought into the light.”
